Car construction



P 1936- J. B. D. THOMPSON ET AL 2,036,555

CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed April 25, 1934 m'o Rs ammo id fl/dsiad mvs fl/M A TI'ORNEY Patented Apr. 7, 1 936 PATENT OFFICE CAR CON STRUCTION John B. D. Thompson and Sigvald F. Udstad, Berwick, Pa., assignors to American Car and Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 23,

.3 Claims.

This invention relates generally to improvements in railway car construction and has particular reference to a new and improved side plate.

At the present time the general trend in railway car construction is toward railway cars of lighter construction than those heretofore manufactured and use has been made of aluminum alloys for various parts of a railway car. In line with this general trend the present invention comprises the provision of a railway car formed of material of relatively light weight but of such a natureas to possess the necessary strength for resisting strains and stresses imposed thereupon in service and one object of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved railway ear construction embodying the use of relatively light .but durable metal elements.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a side plate formed of extruded aluminum or aluminum alloys.

Another object of this invention is the provi-'- sion of a new and improved construction at the juncture of the roof and upper portion of the side wall of a railway car.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the side of a car body including a portion of the roof structure;

Fig. :2 is an enlarged detail view of a part of the car construction shown in Fig. 1 at the juncture of the roof and upper portion of the side wall;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the car construction at the door opening; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the side plate.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing in which similar characters of reference designate similar parts in the several views, the car construction shown in the drawing, particularly Fig. 1, comprises a side sill 2 formed of relatively light material though obviously it may 'be formed of a commercially rolled section, said sill being generally channel shaped in form and comprising a top chord 4 and a bottom chord 6, the latter being, in the instance shown, of less width than the top chord 4. To the side sill 2 are secured a plurality of body posts 8 in any suitable manner as by rivets l0 extending through flanges l2 formed at the lower end portions of said posts. Between adjacent posts are belt rail sections, one thereof being shown in section in 1934, Serial No. 721,870

Fig. l and comprising a channel shaped pressing M the edge portions of which are downwardly flanged as at 16 and I8, respectively, flange l6 lapping the upper edge portion of an interior finish member 20 while the external flange l8 overlap-s the upper edge portion of the external side wall sheathing member 22; members 20 and 22 being secured to the body posts 8 and member 22 being secured to the side sill 2 by suitable fasteners 24. The side wall of the car body is provided with window openings having windows 26 therein and, as can be seen in Fig. 1, the belt rail [4 constitutes the lower rail of the window frame.

The side wall of the car also includes external sheathing members 28 the lower edge portions of which at the window openings are secured as by rivets 30 to the upper window frame members 32. The upper external sheathing members 28 have their upper portions inwardly bent to underlie the inner surface of the correspondingly curved depending flange 34 of a side plate indicated generally at P and comprising a unitary construction formed of extruded aluminum or aluminum alloy and including a horizontally arranged web '36 from which the before mentioned flange 34 depends and a vertically arranged attaching flange 38 arranged opposite flange 34 and formed at substantially right angles with web 36 with portions extending both above and below the web 36 as shown at 40 and 42, respectively. As clearly shown in the drawing, the portion 40 above web 36 has its upper edge portion bent inwardly to define an attaching flange 44 which underlies and supports the roof carlins 46 and said carlins are secured to the attaching flange 44 by suitable fasteners such as the rivets 48.

The carlins 46 may be and preferably are extruded aluminum sections and extending between adjacent carlins are purlins 50, substantially Z-shaped in cross section, and of a size sufficient to support the head lining 52 of the car body as shown in Fig. 1.

The attaching flange 34 is connected to the external sheathing member 28 which may, if desired, be a letter board, by suitable fasteners such as the rivets 54. The carlins 46 and purlins 50 support or form a part of the roof indicated, in the instance shown, as of thin gauge 56 riveted as at 58 or otherwise secured to the carlins and purlins and having its side edge portions overlapping the attaching flange 34 and secured to said flange by any suitable or desired fastening means.

As more clearly shown in Fig. 2, the side plate P is connected to the upper end portions of the body posts 8 through the medium of gussets riveted to the web 36 and flange 42 of said side plate and to the posts 8 as shown at 62. The outer portions of the upper end portions of the posts 8 are shaped to conform to the general curvature of the letter board 28 and the curvature of the flange 34 of the side plate P.

The lower end portion of the depending flange 42 of side plate P is of increased thickness as shown clearly in the drawing at 64 and its outer surface is beveled as at 66 to form an attaching surface for interior head finish member 66 which is connected in any suitable manner with the head lining 52 and, between the window openings, overlaps an upper window frame member 68 secured to the attaching portion 64 and depending therefrom with its lower end portion inwardly flanged as shown at 10 to underlie an gle 72 extending between and riveted to adjacent body posts 8.

Fig. 3 discloses a detail sectional view taken at the door opening of the car and, in the instance shown, the door which is indicated at 14 is of the sliding type and slides between rail members 16 and 18, respectively; member 16 being secured to the attaching portion 64 of flange 42 of side plate P while member 18 extends across thedoor opening parallelto member 16 and is secured by rivets to the attaching flange 34 of the side plate.

, From the above description it is believed that those skilled in the art will recognize that the construction shown and described herein constitutes a strong. and durable yet simple and easily manufactured car construction, which comprises a side plate as an extruded aluminum section which supports the roof and is so formed as to provide attaching means for interior car finish members.

The drawing herein illustrates one embodiment of the invention but it is to be understood that it is for illustrative purposes only and various changes in the form and proportions of the construction may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a car structure, 'a side plate comprising a unitary extruded metal section formed to provide, a substantially horizontal web, an outer flange depending from the web and constituting anattaching element to which the car roof sheet is secured, and an inner flange arranged in a plane substantially normal to said web and extending above and below the latter, the portion above the web having its upper part inwardly deflected to provide a supporting element for roof carlins and upon which said carlins directly bear, the lower portion of the inner flange being of increased thickness and formed with a beveled inner surface constituting an attaching portion for interior car finish members.

2. In .a car structure, a side plate comprising a unitary extruded metal section formed of an alloy possessing substantially the characteristics of aluminum and comprising a substantially horizontal web, an outer flange depending in a curve from said web to provide an attaching element to which the car roof sheet is secured and an inner flange arranged in a plane substantially normal to said web and extending above and below the latter, the portion above the web having the upper part thereof deflected inwardly to provide a supporting element for roof carlins and'upon which said carlins directly bear, the lower portion of said inner flange being of increased thickness and formed with a downwardly and outwardly inclined inner surface constituting an attaching portion for car interior finish members.

3. In a car structure, a side plate comprising a unitary extruded metal section formed to provide a substantially horizontal web, an outer flange depending in a curve from the web and constituting an attaching element to which the car roof sheet is secured, an inner flange arranged in a plane substantially normal to said web and extending above and below the latter, the por- I tion above the web having a part thereof inwardly deflected to provide a supporting element for roof carlins and upon which said carlins directly bear, the lower portion of the inner flange being formed of increased thickness and provided with a beveled inner surface constituting an attaching portion for interior car finish members, body posts extending into the space between the inner and outer flanges of the side plate and having the upper end portions thereof shaped to conform to the curvature of the outer flange of the side plate, said body posts being spaced from the inner flange of the side plate, and gussets connecting the inner flange and the horizontal web of said side plate with the body posts.

JOHN B. D. THOMPSON.

SIGVALD F. UDSTAD. 

